INTRODUCTION. 



Amidst all the wonderful revolutions tliat have 

 marked the present century, no country beneath the 

 sun has experienced such a rapid change, in so short 

 a period, as the Australian colony of Port Phillip. 

 Tracing the gradual development of this colony, we find 

 that, in the year 1788, the first British convict ships 

 landed their melancholy freight on these shores, and 

 until the year 1803 this country remained a penal 

 settlement. In that year the convicts were transferred 

 to the Derwent. The first French discovery ships, 

 under Capt. Baudin, entered Western Port bay and 

 christened one of the large islands there, French Island, 

 which name it now bears. Capt. Sturt appears to have 

 been the first European visitor to the banks of the 

 Murray in 1829. Major Mitchell, however, was the 

 discoverer of " Australia Felix " in 1836 ; but Batman 

 was the founder of the colony of Port Philip, and one of 

 the earliest settlers in the Melbourne district. When 

 he first camped upon the hill overlooking the now 

 flourishing town of Melbourne, and which to this day is 



